"If you tank only 1 mob, god kills a kitten. Don't you like kittens?!
I thought I'd write this up because most people, let's face it, are used to bears and warriors standing there getting beat on. But paladins make valuable and excellent tanks as well. This is going to explain the general strengths and weaknesses a Tankadin can offer a group or raid, and what we excel at. As well as some suggestions for how to group with your Tankadin.
Let's start out with.. Weaknesses.
Tankadins do not have "oh shit!" buttons. We do not have last stand, nor do we have shield wall. HOWEVER. We do have a talent that is like a mini shield wall. When we are at or below 35% health, we take 30% less damage. Useful, but can be leapfrogged by hard hitters. So Tankadins do not have good "oh shit!" buttons. (A/N: unless you count the Pally's LoH(lay on hands) Because that to me is a prefectly reasonable "Oh SHIT" button.)
We take more spell damage than warriors. Our talents only give us 6% reduction in damage, plus an additional 2% or a 3% spell resist.
We cannot spell reflect. Also, we have 1 interrupt (stun) on a 1 min cooldown.
Our taunt is both a weakness and a strength. The weakness of our taunt is.. it targets 3 mobs. We do not have a way to taunt a single mob off a target if there is more than 1. Also, if the mob is target switching rapidly.. we can hit it and.. well alot of times nothing will happen. We do not "taunt" the mob directly. We taunt off the player who is being targeted.
Going OOM = Being rage starved. Tankadins have to take damage to get mana returned through healing. And sometimes mana pots are not available. So yes, if you see your Tankadin without pants, or pulling entire hallways, it's their way of saying heal me, I need more GRR power.
Strengths.
Tankadins are AoE tanking gods. No, trust me on this. As long as you can keep a Tankadin alive through the damage, they can hold unlimited mobs. And do so very, very well. Consecrate, reflective threat with Holy Shield and other nifty tools allow Tankadins to put on the hurt when they got multitudes of baddies whacking them. This is a HUGE strength. It speeds up 5man runs, it allows DPS to AoE and focus fire becomes a bit more lax. (THOUGH YOU SHOULD ALWAYS FOLLOW KILL ORDER, THX )
Paladins give useful group buffs! Tankadins are just like their holy and retribution brethren in that they bring an aura and a blessing. They also can cleanse themselves and others if cooldowns allow. They also can tank, then rez the dead should that PoM Pyro mage have gotten a little crazy.
Paladins frontload a TON of threat. That means DPS can open up earlier, and things die faster. Their "blue rage" bar starts full and empties out. So the faster they load their threat, the more they can ride it out and keep it up.
Holy shield vs. Shield block. On fast hitting bosses (Prince anyone?) holy shield provides 8 charges of goodness over 10 seconds vs the warriors 2 over 5. Fast hitting bosses crush warriors. Fast hitting bosses crush Tankadins much, much less. Less crushes = much more happy living tank and more happy living healers.
Our taunt is ranged! No matter how far away those baddies are coming to eat the healer, as long as the healer is in range the baddies can be taunted. And not just 1, but up to 3!
Summary:
Each tank in the game has their strengths and weaknesses. Each class can main tank, but each fight is different. A fast hitting, demon melee boss is paladin tastic. A slow hitting spell casting mob is warrior preferred. And a giant crushing, drooling beast that hits like a truck is awesome for bears. All three can tank them, but each one is suited to something unique. But remember, your local Tankadin likes kittens. CC = Continuous Consecration. Please, think of the kittens."
I thought I'd write this up because most people, let's face it, are used to bears and warriors standing there getting beat on. But paladins make valuable and excellent tanks as well. This is going to explain the general strengths and weaknesses a Tankadin can offer a group or raid, and what we excel at. As well as some suggestions for how to group with your Tankadin.
Let's start out with.. Weaknesses.
Tankadins do not have "oh shit!" buttons. We do not have last stand, nor do we have shield wall. HOWEVER. We do have a talent that is like a mini shield wall. When we are at or below 35% health, we take 30% less damage. Useful, but can be leapfrogged by hard hitters. So Tankadins do not have good "oh shit!" buttons. (A/N: unless you count the Pally's LoH(lay on hands) Because that to me is a prefectly reasonable "Oh SHIT" button.)
We take more spell damage than warriors. Our talents only give us 6% reduction in damage, plus an additional 2% or a 3% spell resist.
We cannot spell reflect. Also, we have 1 interrupt (stun) on a 1 min cooldown.
Our taunt is both a weakness and a strength. The weakness of our taunt is.. it targets 3 mobs. We do not have a way to taunt a single mob off a target if there is more than 1. Also, if the mob is target switching rapidly.. we can hit it and.. well alot of times nothing will happen. We do not "taunt" the mob directly. We taunt off the player who is being targeted.
Going OOM = Being rage starved. Tankadins have to take damage to get mana returned through healing. And sometimes mana pots are not available. So yes, if you see your Tankadin without pants, or pulling entire hallways, it's their way of saying heal me, I need more GRR power.
Strengths.
Tankadins are AoE tanking gods. No, trust me on this. As long as you can keep a Tankadin alive through the damage, they can hold unlimited mobs. And do so very, very well. Consecrate, reflective threat with Holy Shield and other nifty tools allow Tankadins to put on the hurt when they got multitudes of baddies whacking them. This is a HUGE strength. It speeds up 5man runs, it allows DPS to AoE and focus fire becomes a bit more lax. (THOUGH YOU SHOULD ALWAYS FOLLOW KILL ORDER, THX )
Paladins give useful group buffs! Tankadins are just like their holy and retribution brethren in that they bring an aura and a blessing. They also can cleanse themselves and others if cooldowns allow. They also can tank, then rez the dead should that PoM Pyro mage have gotten a little crazy.
Paladins frontload a TON of threat. That means DPS can open up earlier, and things die faster. Their "blue rage" bar starts full and empties out. So the faster they load their threat, the more they can ride it out and keep it up.
Holy shield vs. Shield block. On fast hitting bosses (Prince anyone?) holy shield provides 8 charges of goodness over 10 seconds vs the warriors 2 over 5. Fast hitting bosses crush warriors. Fast hitting bosses crush Tankadins much, much less. Less crushes = much more happy living tank and more happy living healers.
Our taunt is ranged! No matter how far away those baddies are coming to eat the healer, as long as the healer is in range the baddies can be taunted. And not just 1, but up to 3!
Summary:
Each tank in the game has their strengths and weaknesses. Each class can main tank, but each fight is different. A fast hitting, demon melee boss is paladin tastic. A slow hitting spell casting mob is warrior preferred. And a giant crushing, drooling beast that hits like a truck is awesome for bears. All three can tank them, but each one is suited to something unique. But remember, your local Tankadin likes kittens. CC = Continuous Consecration. Please, think of the kittens."
And there you have it folks, the overview of the Prot Pally Power. I would like to thank Benefactus for the wonderful input towards the Tankadins of the future. Remember Pallys, do your tanking in bulk.
